Case Study

Kathy Begley
Data Manager

When the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy, part of the College of Nursing, at the University of Kentucky needed a foolproof way to keep research data accurate, data manager Kathy Begley found the answer in iSURVEY. 

Kathy first used iSURVEY to collect a small amount of pilot data from rural locations in 2012. It worked so well that she and her colleagues decided to utilize the software for a 5 year project. With bigger projects come bigger problems, and Kathy needed a solution that could stand up to the challenge. 

To find the right people for the research, the College needed to implement a screening process for potential participants. On top of that, Kathy and her team needed a way to keep track of test kits with long identification numbers, an extremely likely source of user generated error. 

By using iSURVEY’s flow and logic options, Kathy was able to set up a survey that her recruiters could use to find participants anywhere. Kathy explains: “I have the survey flow set so that if they do not meet the research criteria, then they are bounced out. They go to a series of questions that explain why they aren’t being enrolled, and if they’re not interested, asks why.”

When it came to assigning a test kit to a participant, keeping track of ID numbers was going to be a real problem. “I certainly did not want recruiters on an iPad trying to type in a number, because that would just end up being wrought with errors,” said Kathy. Instead, she used iSURVEY’s barcode scanner feature to ensure that the right kit was assigned to the right person, every single time.

Perhaps the most useful feature, however, was iSURVEY’s capacity for offline collection. “The first research study… we were in really remote rural areas,” Kathy said. “iSURVEY was a lifesaver.”

The ease of use was also a massive draw. She found that even people who aren’t very familiar with computers or tablet technology had no problem filling in the survey. “We do have some participants in our study who have limited computer knowledge and experience,” Kathy explained. “They find iSURVEY really easy to use.”

Organisation Snapshot

The Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy is part of the College of Nursing. It exists to provide rural and urban communities across Kentucky with science-based strategies for advancing smoke-free policies on the local level and educating citizens and policymakers about the importance of smoke-free environments. The College of Nursing at the University of Kentucky is a nationally ranked leader in undergraduate and graduate nursing education, research, scholarship and service. Founded in the 1960s, the College is committed to advancing nursing science by promoting health and healthcare through research.